The April 14, 2016 edition of Los Angeles Angels news includes Matt Shoemaker putting together a much-needed strong start, bullpen coach Scott Radinsky being taken to the hospital, and more…
The Story: Aggressive approach yields results for Shoemaker
MWAH Says: I usually reserve post-game analysis for our Boxscore Breakdowns or Series Takeaways, but Shoemaker pitched so well Wednesday I thought he deserved the top headline today. Shutting down the A’s offense for six innings isn’t the meanest of feats, but any sort of positive is a godsend for Shoemaker at this point. Merely having an “aggressive mentality” won’t fix all that ails him, but if it gives him a little more confidence it can’t be bad.
The Story: Bullpen coach Scott Radinsky sent to Oakland hospital after game
MWAH Says: The team has not released any information about Radinsky’s condition, only that he went to a local hospital in uniform as the team boarded its flight to Minnesota. We hope it is nothing serious, and that he gets better soon.
The Story: You’ve gotta be shifting me!
MWAH Says: A great look at how the increase in defensive shifts seems to have had minimal to no positive overall effect on turning batted balls into outs. The only players it seems to pay dividends to shift on are extreme guys like Albert Pujols or Ryan Howard. If only this had come out three weeks ago, when the Angels weren’t totally sold on shifting with every dang batter. So far, opponents are hitting .302 when the Halos shift and .202 when they don’t. Maybe let Andrelton Simmons just play in his natural spot so he can do his thing.
The Story: 2015 Starting Pitcher Ball-in-Play Retrospective – AL West
MWAH Says: This is so, so cool. I’ve been hoping for a while now that someone smarter than me would create a FIP-like metric that takes a pitcher’s specific batted-ball profile into account rather than just assuming average batted-ball results. Well, here it is. Extreme flyball guys like Jered Weaver, Hector Santiago, and Matt Shoemaker finally get their due, all coming in well above average. Colby Lewis, meanwhile, is just as bad as he seems.
The Story: The Pablo Sandoval-Red Sox marriage could be coming to an end
MWAH Says: Shades of the disastrous Carl Crawford deal. Sandoval is in just year two of his contract and isn’t even a starter anymore. He’s gotta be mostly free at this point, so the Angels might as well take a flyer if he’s shopped. Could be a platoon DH option with Cron, or maybe eventually return to third.
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